Ireland is one of the few EU countries that has failed to meet its commitment to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020. The Climate Change Advisory Council, under the Chairmanship of Prof John Fitzgerald, reported to the Citizens’ Assembly in November 2017 and advised that Ireland needs to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the 2030 targets. The Advisory Council made a number of recommendations in order to achieve these targets, which will be presented at this seminar.

Behavioural change is key to achieving Ireland’s climate change targets. The role of public and social policy in initiating these changes however, remains unclear. The seminar will examine the rapidly growing body of research on sustainable consumption behaviour to inform a discussion on the approaches available to Government to implement the Advisory Council recommendations.